McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton led the final practice session from almost beginning to end after continually improving upon his opening lap.
Hamilton’s fastest lap on the harder compound was good enough for the top spot, with the 27-year-old only finding a tenth on the yellow-marked soft Pirelli’s thanks to traffic in the closing stages.
The second McLaren of Jenson Button made it a 1-2 for the Woking team with the 2009-champion just under three-tenths slower.
Sebastian Vettel’s full potential couldn’t be seen thanks to several issues which meant he could only complete seven laps, three timed laps, in the final seven minutes – though he managed the third fastest time ahead of team-mate Mark Webber.
Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado held fifth to seventh with Fernando Alonso eighth quickest.
The order coud very well change as the temperatures drop significantly from the 42ºC high seen during FP3, though at present it looks like a battle between the McLarens and Red Bulls.
FP3 Results for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 4 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:42.130 | 18 | |
| 02 | 3 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:42.420 | 0.290 | 17 |
| 03 | 1 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:42.614 | 0.484 | 7 |
| 04 | 2 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:42.743 | 0.613 | 18 |
| 05 | 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:42.750 | 0.620 | 19 |
| 06 | 10 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:43.015 | 0.885 | 18 |
| 07 | 18 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:43.064 | 0.934 | 19 |
| 08 | 5 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:43.133 | 1.003 | 15 |
| 09 | 9 | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:43.184 | 1.054 | 22 |
| 10 | 11 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:43.338 | 1.208 | 19 |
| 11 | 6 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:43.480 | 1.350 | 17 |
| 12 | 15 | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:43.571 | 1.441 | 20 |
| 13 | 8 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:43.593 | 1.463 | 20 |
| 14 | 7 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:43.635 | 1.505 | 19 |
| 15 | 14 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:44.010 | 1.880 | 22 |
| 16 | 17 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:44.025 | 1.895 | 18 |
| 17 | 19 | B. Senna | Williams | 1:44.071 | 1.941 | 19 |
| 18 | 16 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:44.149 | 2.019 | 19 |
| 19 | 20 | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:45.301 | 3.171 | 22 |
| 20 | 24 | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:45.879 | 3.749 | 19 |
| 21 | 25 | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:46.036 | 3.906 | 19 |
| 22 | 21 | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:46.261 | 4.131 | 22 |
| 23 | 22 | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:46.554 | 4.424 | 20 |
| 24 | 23 | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:47.032 | 4.902 | 22 |
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